Physics

From the forces that keep athletes twirling and sliding, to the weird laws governing the world of the very small, to the far-out concepts of time travel and alternate universes, physics covers a lot of interesting territory. Here, Live Science keeps you abreast of all the fascinating physics discoveries.Physics

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The LCLS-II accelerator, where temperatures 2 K above absolute zero have been achieved.

Temperatures colder than space achieved here on Earth using superconducting X-ray laser

By Robert Lea published

Using a superconducting X-ray laser, researchers at SLAC achieved a temperature 4 degrees Fahrenheit above absolute zero.

A lunar eclipse seen on May 26, 2021 in Auckland, New Zealand.

What is a lunar eclipse?

By Colin Stuart published

Reference Lunar eclipses occur when the moon falls into Earth's shadow, creating a blood moon, and can be total, partial or penumbral. Here's when one will happen next.

A strontium lattice optical atomic clock

Ultraprecise atomic optical clocks may redefine the length of a second

By Tia Ghose published

The length of a second hasn't been updated in 70 years, but ultraprecise atomic optical clocks are on track to change that.

Here, the Large Hadron Collider is shown on April 22, 2022, the day the atom smasher restarted again for Run 3 after a three-year nap.

What is the Large Hadron Collider?

By Adam Mann published

The Large Hadron Collider is the world's most powerful particle accelerator. Here's a look at the atom smasher and all its amazing discoveries.

VV689 collision

Cosmic 'angel wings' emerge from violent galactic collision in Leo constellation

By Scott Dutfield published

Hubble telescope snaps images of an 'angel's wings' in the constellation Leo

The Large Hadron Collider at CERN.

Large Hadron Collider is waking up after a 3-year nap, and it could help explain why the universe exists.

By Mara Johnson-Groh published

After a three-year nap, the world's largest atom smasher is waking up and getting ready to smash atoms harder than ever.

The CDF detector, which is part of the Tevatron particle accelerator at Fermilab in Illinois, just stunned physicists with new “hefty” measurements of the W boson’s mass.

Oddly heavy particle may have just broken the reigning model of particle physics

By Paul Sutter published

An ultraprecise measurement of the mass of the W boson may diverge from the Standard Model, a long-reigning framework that governs the strange world of quantum physics.

This artist's impression shows the decay of a lutetium-149 nucleus into a ytterbium-148 nucleus and a proton.

Scientists create weird pumpkin-shaped nucleus that vanishes in nanoseconds

By Stephanie Pappas published

A newly created isotope of the silvery metal lutetium has a strange squashed nucleus and a half-life of just a few hundred nanoseconds.

An illustration of a clock spiraling into space-time.

What is time?

By Paul Sutter published

Reference From the beginning of the universe to the present day, it's one of the few things we regard as regular and unchanging. But is it really so constant? We take a look at the physics of time.

In this illustrative concept image, a black hole is sucking in all the nearby matter in space.

Black holes may grow quantum 'hair'

By Stephanie Pappas published

The quantum state of a black hole's gravitational field may hold clues as to what is beyond the event horizon.

Abstract image of quantum probability_agsandrew via Shutterstock

What is quantum mechanics?

By Adam Mann published

Reference Quantum mechanics is the body of scientific laws that describe the wacky behavior of photons, electrons and the other particles that make up the universe.

researchers discovered how to create and manipulate a quantum phenomenon known as a "domain wall" - shown in this image as the lighter line between two groups of atoms. (Image adapted and color added from experiment data.)

Physicists create bizarre quantum 'domain walls' in new experiment

By Ashley Hamer published

Strange 'domain walls' act like independent quantum object in the new experiment.

The particle was produced inside the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.

'X particle' from the dawn of time detected inside the Large Hadron Collider

By Ben Turner published

The particle was found by smashing billions of lead atoms into each other at extreme speeds.

In this illustration, a neutrino interacts with Antarctic ice, shedding a muon in the process. As that muon moves at ultrafast speed, it leaves a telltale trail of blue light, known as Cherenkov radiation.

Astronomers propose building a neutrino detector out of the Pacific Ocean

By Paul Sutter published

The Pacific Ocean Neutrino Experiment would turn a massive swath of the Pacific Ocean into nature's own neutrino detector.

Abstract chess board to represent a mathematical problem called Euler's office problem.

Centuries-old 'impossible' math problem cracked using the strange physics of Schrödinger's cat

By Stephanie Pappas published

The mathematics problem is a bit like Sudoku on steroids.

The 2-foot vacuum chamber will use magnets to recreate lunar gravity here on Earth.

China builds 'artificial moon' for gravity experiment

By Ben Turner published

The test chamber will enable scientists to test technologies and structures on Earth before sending them to the moon.

China's 'artificial sun' tokamak

China's $1 trillion 'artificial sun' fusion reactor just got five times hotter than the sun

By Ben Turner published

The experimental fusion reactor sustained the temperatures for a record-breaking 17 minutes.

Abstract physics image showing glowing blobs orbiting a central blob.

Physicists crack unsolvable three-body problem using drunkard's walk

By Ashley Hamer published

The three-body problem, which has plagued science since the days of Isaac Newton, is closer to being solved, scientists say.

To test how important imaginary numbers were in describing reality, the researchers used an updated version of the Bell test, an experiment which relies on quantum entanglement.

Imaginary numbers could be needed to describe reality, new studies find

By Ben Turner published

Theories based only on real numbers are incapable of explaining the results of this new experiment.

This conceptual image shows the Big Bang and the beginning of the universe, with galaxies and other stellar clusters exploding from a central point on a cosmic background.

Weird quantum objects known as Q balls could explain why we exist

By Ashley Hamer published

Bizarre quantum objects called Q balls could explain why the universe if filled with matter and ultimately why we exist.